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Emergency response to manure spills – Are you prepared with a manure spill kit?

In the case of a manure spill, livestock producers should have a spill kit prepared.

There are no simple solutions to a manure spill, but thinking through your specific situation and monitoring daily can help prevent, or at least minimize, the environmental risks and potential regulatory issues.Every day, farmers must account for a variety of factors when loading and hauling manure or spreading it in the fields. These factors include weather, soil saturation, manure coverage, cover crops, soil types, slope and direction, and depth of cultivation. However, farmers cannot account for events they can’t control – the blown hose, the punctured tire, the cracked irrigation pipe or any other possible accidents or failures. While these incidents may be common enough and even expected – they can only be planned for and not prevented entirely. One such accident is the manure spill. In the case of a manure spill, Michigan State University Extension recommends that all livestock producers have a manure spill kit handy and more importantly have an emergency response plan in place.

Putting together a manure spill kit is not difficult. Just collect the necessary tools and supplies and have them ready to use in the case of a spill.

Dr. Kris Kohl, agricultural engineer with Iowa State University Extension, suggests farmers assemble the following items into a trailer or pickup-sized spill kit.

Along with the emergency response plan, this manure spill kit should be readily available to use in case of a manure spill. Timing is essential in getting any spill under control and contained. On a slope of less than 2 percent, liquid manure will flow as fast as 5 feet per second.

Sometimes the trailer- or truck-mounted spill kit may not always be available or even an option for every farm situation. Michigan State University Extension recommends the use of a small-scale spill kit to help ensure some level of preparedness for most situations. You can store this spill kit in a tractor or pickup cab. It includes a roll of duct tape, 12-foot by 25-foot 6-mil plastic sheets, a utility knife and a shovel. This spill kit is ideal for controlling or containing a small spill before it turns into a large one.

Shelby Bollwahn is a Michigan State University (MSU) Extension educator. Contact her at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

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